So someone leaves a phone on a bar, someone else picks it up and plays with it, and the next thing you know Gizmodo is taking it apart and declaring that this disguised iPhone is a test model of the not-yet-released iPhone 4G. The blog then outlined all the phone's new features. Apple is taking the accidental leak very seriously.
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In a blog post on Monday detailing how it obtained the phone, Gizmodo said it was left by an iPhone software engineer at Gourmet Haus Staudt, a German specialty store and beer garden in Redwood City.
The person who found the phone peddled it to Gizmodo, which bought it for $5,000, Nick Denton, chief executive of Gawker Media, which owns Gizmodo, said by instant message.
His company’s sites have had a longstanding practice of paying for scoops, and the windfall was tangible. Traffic spiked on Monday, and at midday more than one million visitors stopped by the site in one hour to see pictures of the coveted gadget.
By late in the day, reports began to surface on the Internet that Apple’s chief executive, Steven P. Jobs, had called Gizmodo to get the device back. Mr. Denton declined to comment, saying any conversation between Mr. Jobs and Gizmodo would most likely have been off the record.
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From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by tylerthevideoguy.
Whatever.
I know Apple likes its big press releases for new toys, but anytime something like this happens, I always if it's really just bad luck or a deliberate publicity move.
If I met someone who tells me they found a phone left in a bar and I buy that phone from them then I would be in trouble with the police.
Why is Apple not pressing charges (it must be their property if it was a development model)?
Could all of this be a publicity stunt?
Apple should probably keep a log sheet of those things or something.
Pffff, gimmick!
If not a PR stunt, the so called engineer should be flogged. How freaking hard is it to hold onto a cell phone? I bet the guy wears velcro shoes.
it's not like the iphone4 has a new pepperspray release button. They only wave here is the ceramic backing (well, and yeah, that whole 'Mighty Apple Fortress' thing). So after enjoying a lunchbreak reading in the NYT and straight from the Gizmodo's mouth...Oh, by the way, Does Gizmodo always write like that?...
I wonder how this will be officially released now?
I could care less about iphones. What intrigues me is how we as a human populace are suckered into 'techno power worship'.
Why do I find this slip so exciting???
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2010/04/gawkers_iphone.php
Someone should fix that and edit it appropriately...
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Exactly WHAT are you trying to say about people who wear velcro shoes?! :P haha